1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to charging a power supply in a non-contact manner, and more particularly, to wirelessly sharing power by an inductive method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile devices or portable devices should be continuously supplied with power in order to operate. In order to continuously supply power, batteries should be installed. Batteries can be generally divided into two main types—rechargeable and disposable. Disposable batteries are intended to be used once, until the chemical changes that induce the electrical current supply are complete, at which point the battery is discarded. In contrast, rechargeable batteries can be re-charged after they have been drained, thereby having a long lifetime.
Rechargeable batteries need to be charged for a predetermined period after discharging. The charging requires a process of converting an alternating current (AC) into a direct current (DC). This process is generally performed by a charger. Chargers are mostly fixed or semi-fixed to power sockets. Further, in the related art, chargers generally recharge batteries using proprietary terminals.
However, in this case, when charge terminals of batteries become decrepit, the charge performance can be degraded. When a battery and a charger are connected to each other by wire, the mobility of a mobile device is limited. Therefore, research into charging in a non-contact or wireless manner has been conducted.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a non-contact charging method according to the related art. In particular, British Patent No. 2398176 discloses a method of performing charging without wire or terminal contact when a charging pad 10 is provided as shown in FIG. 1 and a device 20 is placed on the charging pad 10. The device 20 subject to charging can be placed anywhere on the charging pad 10 and yet still be charged in an inductive manner, thereby allowing the device 20 to be used.
In the method of FIG. 1, the charging pad (charger) 10 is fixed, but charging is performed in an inductive manner. However, since the charging pad 10 is fixed in a state of being connected to an AC power supply, it is not possible to perform charging everywhere. That is, the mobility of a mobile device requiring charging is limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,813 discloses a DC power supply which is shared through a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card. However, contact between a device and the card is required, which is inconvenient.
In order to maximize the portability of a mobile device, a non-contact charging method is required. Further, a charging method in which power supplies of mobile devices are shared with those of other mobile devices is required.